Scuba/Snorkeling Stories
Stories from people DIVING in The Bay of Bengal Dec 26th 2004
These stories are being collected to assist the international tsunami community in creating guidelines to help people in the sea, during future tsunamis.
If possible, please try to include information about the following:
1) Location of boat - dive spot, scuba or snorkel, type of boat & size - keel, # of people in group, approximate water depth and dive depth, type of dive location - reef, cave, wreck. How far from shore?
2) How did you learn about the tsunami, what time was it?
3) What did you do?
4) What happened:
-appearance of wave/waves or currents
-did you observe or feel a drawdown of the water?
-how many waves or water surges or drawn downs?
-how long did the unusual wave or current activity last?
5) How did your group fare? Deaths or injuries?
6) How did your dive equipment and boat fare?
7) Did you see any marine wildlife acting up before or during?
Any additional comments
Please post and find the dive stories by using the "comments" button, here:
posted by birdieee at 5:46 PM
18 Comments:
Thailand scuba diving group survives tsunami killer wave
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by KAREN KAUFMAN
PHUKET, Thailand (28 Dec 2004) -- "Our boat was lucky. We saw a cruise liner stuck near the islands with three people dead," said Londoner Naomi Hayim from her boat off the coast of Phuket yesterday.
Hayim, who is deaf, and 13 other people (including another deaf person) were diving at Richelieu Rock, a collection of submerged pinnacles renowned for its visiting whale sharks north of the Surin Islands (about 60 kilometers off the west coast of Phang Nga province) when the tsunami hit.
"We realized that the wave went right over us as we were diving," she said yesterday via SMS messaging on her cell phone. She said the giant wave created a whirlpool with incredibly strong currents. The divers were swept under, completely losing each other and severely hampered by poor visibility. All 14 eventually surfaced and found each other, though an exhausted Hayim could not be certain yesterday how long they had actually been submerged. Luckily all 14 were unharmed.
Hayim, 26, was brought up in London's Maida Vale and is a divemaster and marine biologist. She also studied clown fish and sea anemones at the Institute of Marine Biology in Eilat in 2000. A battle with meningitis when she was just a baby left her deaf. She has never, however, let this stop her from doing anything she put her mind to and graduated from Queen Mary, University of London with a degree in marine and freshwater biology.
Hayim is part of Worldwide Dive and Sail, a company that offers seven-day sailing and diving trips aboard a 21-meter yacht. Her ability to lip-read and sign enables her to teach deaf and hard-of-hearing people how to dive.
The yacht left Phuket on Friday for what was supposed to be a week-long underwater adventure for holiday-makers who joined from Britain, the Netherlands and Austria. There were no Israelis on board - as Naomi put it "I'm the only Jew here."
Yesterday afternoon, the boat and its passengers turned back toward Phuket, but by early evening they were instructed to stay out at sea for fear of aftershocks and because the port at Phuket had been ruined.
Hayim said that they are now waiting to hear from the Thai authorities when they will be able to go back to land. As the trip was due to last a week, the boat still has enough food and equipment for several more days.
Hayim's group was one of several diving excursions that were at sea when the tsunami struck. "We are very lucky that nothing terrible happened," she said last night.
SOURCE - Haaretz
The snorkeler's amazing story: The five were in a longtail boat from Phi Phi Don, to Phi Phi Li to a small cove with a beach at the end (perhaps the
one where the movie "The Beach" was filmed). They were in the water when the tsunami hit, and were pushed up the beach, and were able to stay up as the water receeded. They scrambled up as high as they could before the next wave, but when it came they managed to climb higher up, to safety.
Although their longtail was pulled under, their driver's brother was outside the same bay, picked him and them up in another boat after about an hour. The drivers also rescued much personal stuff, including Carolyn's new, expensive digital camera in an almost-dry plasic pouch.
I think it was a miracle that they survived. We thought they may have been snorkeling, but did not give them much hope if they were not in a boat
offshore
An eyewitness account from Alistair and Carolyn Roberts of "Nademia" relating their experiences:
Ten Rally yachts gathered in the north-west facing bay of Phi Phi Don to celebrate Christmas at the Jungle Bar, a beach-side restaurant. The weather was beautiful, and we all had a lot of fun. The following day, Boxing Day, Carolyn and Alistair of Nademia, Peter of St. Barbara, and Jim and Lolly of Condor (who were staying aboard St. Barbara for a couple of days) were up early to take a taxi-boat over to the neighbouring island of Phi Phi Le. It was another beautiful day, and at about 11am we entered the inlet of Maya Beach, where the film ~The Beach~ was filmed. The inlet is steep-sided and almost enclosed, and would be delightful but for the dozens of tour boats of all sizes that were manoeuvring in the bay, dropping off swimmers and snorkellers. We slipped into the water rather cautiously, as many of the speed boats were dangerously close to us. Almost immediately we became aware of a strong current dragging us towards the sheer cliffs, which was unexpected, given the topography, and we put it down to the backwash from all the power boats. Just a few minutes later the current changed direction and increased alarmingly, and we found ourselves being swept further into the bay, totally out of control. The current reversed a couple more times, and we were dragged back and forth, frighteningly close to the cliff face, in water that had changed from crystal clear to muddy brown, until fortunately we all managed to struggle ashore in a tiny cove some distance from the main beach. We had no idea what was happening, except that at one moment the beach was many metres wide, with a few fish stranded on the sand, and the next moment a heavy surge of water up to 3 or 4 metres high covered everything, and we were forced to retreat into the jungle behind the beach, and as the surges increased in height, we clambered a few feet up the craggy rockface at the back of the cove.
We were stranded in the cove, along with a French family, for a couple of hours as the water surged back and forth into the bay. There was a huge amount of debris in the water, including tree trunks that had been swept off the beach. Gradually the water became more stable, and powerboats which had retreated to the open sea began to edge their way into the bay to pick up the hundreds of people stranded on the main beach There was no sign of our taxi boat, however, and it was still far too dangerous for us to contemplate swimming out to the boats. Eventually a longtail boat approached our cove, and we struggled out to it through still-swirling water, to find our taxiboat driver on board - his boat had been sunk, along with two or three others. It was a sombre group that set off back to Phi Phi Don, through a sea that was littered with an amazing amount of flotsam, including two upturned kayaks and a couple more wrecked longtail boats. We were dreading what we would find back at the anchorage. As we drew near we saw that most yachts had put to sea, including St Barbara who had been boarded by other Rally people, and were standing off about 2 miles.
As we rounded the last headland we saw Nademia - still afloat, and apparently undamaged. Our relief was beyond words. It appears that the tsunami had surged into the anchorage and across the beach, devastating the resort. Two members of the Rally were injured, two Rally boats lost their anchors, and a couple of boats sustained other relatively minor damage, but all had managed to put to sea after the first wave, which had swirled around the bay at a reported 12 knots. Somehow our own anchor had held, but once we were on board we put to sea immediately as there were reports that a second tsunami was expected - fortunately it did not materialize.
Reports of the effect of the tsunami, both locally and throughout the Indian Ocean region, have been relayed to us via VHF and BBC World Service. We were very very lucky - I dread to think how many swimmers in the Phi Phi islands cannot be accounted for. As I write, we are at anchor north of the islands, trying to decide what to do, and feeling the utmost sympathy for the holidaymakers and local population who were less fortunate than ourselves
Two scuba divers dead, 80 rescued in Thailand
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by CARMEN SANCHEZ
Tidal waves destroyed tourist resorts on Phi Phi island off PhuketPHUKET, Thailand (26 Dec 2004) -- Some 80 divers and snorkelers trapped in Emerald Cave on Ko Muk island have been rescued.
A Malaysian couple was killed when they were forced into the cave along with other snorkelers and divers by the huge tsunami that hit Thailand. Their three children, who were also pushed into the cave were found alive.
Among the rescued, many were injured as turbulent water battered them against the walls of the renowned 80-meter long limestone cave.
Several of the injured were hospitalized in serious condition.
COPYRIGHT © CDNN - Cyber Diver News Network
http://www.narimadiving.com
"We would like to let everyone know what happened on the day of the tidal wave, and give an up to date account on the state of Ko Lanta - many people have said they are finding it very hard to find news coverage of Ko Lanta. We would also like to reassure people hoping to come to Ko Lanta that the island's infrastructure remains largely unaffected and many of the islands hotels and guesthouses are untouched, although beach-front locations are having to re-build and everyone within the community is lending a helping hand. People on Ko Lanta are keen to encourage people to continue with their travel plans to Ko Lanta so that the local people here can start to rebuild their businesses and lives as soon as possible.
Both the West and East coasts of Ko Lanta were hit by seven big waves on 26th December at around 10.30am. Two of the waves were very big, and it was these two that caused most of the damage to the island. Here at Narima, the largest wave came up over the swimming pool and sucked most of the water out. It also claimed all our brand new bar furniture and many of the sun-loungers. Thankfully this was all that was damaged. There was a mother and daughter swimming in the sea, but they realized something was wrong when the water first started to recede and were able to run to safety before the wave came in. Narima is functioning normally now (with a few missing items from the menu!) and the good news is that the beach now has lots of sand again!
Saffron & Iris were diving with 5 divers at Bidah Nok at Ko Phi Phi. All the divers were in the water when the waves came and were pushed several hundred meters out to sea by a strong current. Fortunately this was the safest place to be and we were able to return to Ko Lanta a few hours later. All divers from Ko Lanta returned safely that day.
Ko Lanta's main town Saladan (in the North) was extremely fortunate and only suffered minimal flooding as the water levels rose & fell - they did not experience a wave as the west and east coasts did. Most of the shops are open as normal already. The car ferries are running as normal, and we expect the ferry from Krabi to start operating in the next few days.
We have had reports back that the reefs around Ko Lanta are looking healthy and largely unaffected. The main abnormality is that there is a fine layer of sand over much of the coral, but the fish seem to be doing quite a good job of cleaning this off. We hope to reopen the dive centre on 2nd January. Fortunately, the Similans and Southern islands were largely unaffected by the calamity and Phuket dive operators are running their schedulesd trips from 2nd January. "
Darrel & Saffron, Narima Diving
From the DAN site:
Home > Reports About the Tsunamis
Open Letters About the Tsunamis
* Letter from Iain Page
* Letter from John Everingham
* Letter from Kylie Stevenson
* Letter from Andlauer Anne-lyse
* Letter from Paul Landgraver
* Letter from Toni Woods
* Anonymous Letter
* Letter from Liz
* Letter from Larry Hutchinson
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Hello Folks,
Here is an account of what we did on [the day of the tsunami] and some afterthoughts.
7:20 a.m. Having put the alarm on snooze for the fourth time, we decided we'd better get up and get ready for work. I was working as tour leader on the boat that day but had a group of five private customers from Sweden to look after (three divers, two snorkelers). My wife, Oui, came along to help me with our private group. So we showered, set up the underwater cameras and then headed off to the pier.
8:00 a.m. The usual melee can be found at the pier, with numerous dive companies and hundreds of customers hanging around. This is the peak, peak time of year: it doesn't get busier than this. I had approximately 25 customers and about eight staff on our boat.
8:45 a.m. Having got everyone together (pick-ups coming from various different towns) we headed down the pier, onto the boat and off to Phi Phi. The mood was jubilant, with everyone looking forward to a great day's diving. With the Christmas hangovers gone, we just had calm seas and terrific scenery in front of us.
The trip to Phi Phi takes almost three hours, so after everyone had set up their diving equipment it was time to relax. Downstairs we were playing Finding Nemo, upstairs just fresh air and views.
10:30 a.m. The boat captain tells us that some of the boats going to other dive sites have had to turn back because of large waves and choppy seas. We find this almost unbelievable, as where we are located is beautifully calm.
More mixed reports come in [over the marine radio], although it is not clear exactly what has happened. The reports vary from "Earthquake at Racha Yai", a local small island, to "Large waves have destroyed Sarasin Bridge," the bridge connecting Phuket to the mainland. It later turns out that both reports were untrue. At this point we are still not sure of what has happened in Phuket or Phi Phi.
11:10 a.m. Phi Phi is in close view. Our dive sites are at two small islands (Koh Bida Nok/Nai) a couple of kilometres from the main Phi Phi islands. Normally at this time of day these dive sites have five to 10 dive boats from Phi Phi there. I am surprised to notice only one boat and assume that the others must all be hidden around the other side of these small islands. Time for the dive briefing.
11:45 a.m. Everyone is kitted up and ready to jump. We are still all completely unaware of what has happened, although there are now reports of some fishing boats sinking near Phuket. Just as we are about to enter the water, one of the crew points out a strange phenomenon about 400 to 800 metres away. There is a largish slow-moving area of brown bubbling water in the middle of the calm blue ocean. Expecting a possible thermocline bringing in dirty water, I warn everyone to stay close to their buddies in case the visibility drops.
11:51 a.m. The dive begins. Just before we descend, I comment on the good visibility and am genuinely excited about the prospect of a good, easy dive. This is a wall dive along the side of the island, with a small current to gently drift us along. With myself at the front, my three customers in the middle and my wife following up the rear, we descend down to about 16 metres.
11:53 a.m. I notice the visibility starting to drop down from about 15 metres to a couple of metres and, worried about the thermocline, bring the group shallower to about 5 metres. The small current that was allowing for a gentle drift suddenly increases rapidly and we find ourselves rocketed around the corner of the island.
Instantly, the current changes direction, and we are propelled backwards. Visibility is now down to less than a metre and I am thinking of aborting the dive only a few minutes in.
Next thing I know, another group of divers comes crashing into ours, and we all start to get sucked down and tossed around. Then we are pulled back up shallow then pushed down again: it is like being in a washing machine.
I instantly move close to the wall, where currents are generally weaker and motion for my divers to come over. Two are very close and manage to grab hold of the wall. The third momentarily disappears from view but a few seconds later reappears and joins the group.
My wife is nowhere to be seen. As she is also a dive instructor and very calm in the water I assume that she will make her way to the surface and switch my focus to the remaining three divers who are all relatively inexperienced.
I motion to the group to all link arms and then give the ascend sign. First we have to move away from the wall in case of waves at the surface bashing us against the island. As I expect, as soon as we move out, the waves and currents underwater start to throw us around. But with everyone linked together, I have only to focus on one thing: getting to the surface safely.
As a group we start to fin up. I am watching my depth gauge and note that we have already been sucked from 5 to 15 metres deep and so signal for everyone to fin harder. We have to be careful not to surface too quickly so as to avoid the risk of decompression sickness.
The four of us together form a stable pod and we slowly but surely make our way to the surface. I do not make my normal 5-metre safety stop, as I am concerned for my wife and the rest of the customers, too.
On reaching the surface we all get buoyant and I look around. There are divers everywhere and, to my relief, I can see my wife, Oui, about 20 metres from me.
The surface is choppy but not too bad. The boat gradually picks up the scattered dive groups, and I check that we have everyone back on board. There are still two groups missing, but they were dropped in a different place [from] the rest of us. We wait and eventually they, too, surface. I can now relax, knowing everybody is safely back.
12:30 p.m. Lunch is served and we turn on the TV on the boat. Now we start to see what has happened on the local news and are finally aware that it was an earthquake in Indonesia that has led to large waves being generated. We are still not aware of the catastrophe that has hit Phi Phi so badly.
After discussions with the captain, we decide to head back to Phuket but wait for the one other boat on the dive site to pick up their divers. The water around us is now a muddy shade of brown. Once the other boat is ready, we slowly head off together back towards Phuket.
16:30 As we approach the local Phuket harbour in Chalong, we see rows and rows of boats waiting in the deep water outside the pier. The local port authorities have deemed it to unsafe to approach the pier. We are now aware of the large waves but not of their impact. However, we wait patiently in the deep water, awaiting further news. Everyone on the boat seems calm and relaxed, surprisingly so, with only one customer getting frustrated that we can't get onto land.
18:00 Speedboats have been arranged and come out in pairs to pick up the customers and staff. We are transported to another small port, where it is considered safer to land. People are urged to move quickly and leave all dive equipment behind. Soon everyone is safely back on land and transportation is waiting to take people back to the head office.
It is now we start to understand the damage that has happened as those staying near the beach in Patong are told that they may not be able to return to their hotels.
19:30 Everyone has been taken back to their hotels or alternative arrangements are being made. My wife, Oui, and I head off home to shower and eat. We are exhausted but thankful to have returned safely.
The following day we start to realise the damage that has occurred. In Thailand, Phi Phi and Khao Lak are the main areas that have been hit, and the toll on lives lost increases with each hour. Many hotels and homes have been destroyed, especially in Phi Phi,where it has been reported that only two hotels have been left standing. In the relative scheme of things Phuket got off lightly, especially compared to places like Aceh although unfortunately many people died here, too.
Thankfully, there were many close escapes. One colleague was spending his day off down at the beach. He noticed the unusually low tide but thought nothing of it: having to walk out a kilometre to get waist-high water is quite common in parts of Britain [where he was from]. Suddenly, he noticed the water moving rapidly back in.
He started to run but was caught up in the water, thought he was going to die and then found himself in the top of a coconut tree. As he was thanking his good fortune a second wave came crashing in. A building next to the tree was swept over, crashing into the tree and knocking the tree over, too. As he fell towards the water, for a second time he thought his time was up. He was then swept against a palm tree and scrambled up it for his life. This time he was finally safe.
A couple of days after I am sitting in a bar with the Swedish friends I went diving with. We have out a map of Thailand and are trying to follow the path that the waves followed. We realise how lucky we were. An hour earlier, and we all would have been leaving the harbour. Most likely the boat would have sunk.
Also, when we think of our underwater experience, we realise that we only got caught in the rebound, not in the main surges. The tsunamis themselves would have passed right under us whilst we were in deep water. When you are in deep water you don't notice if the depth suddenly increases by 5 to 10 metres!
Many people in Phuket are now angry about the international press coverage. Certainly there has been some serious damage in and around Phuket, but nowhere near as bad as has been portrayed. You'd think that the whole island had been flooded, whereas the water actually only came in up to about 100 metres inland.
The areas most badly hit were those homes, businesses and resorts right on the beaches, hence the high levels of devastation at Phi Phi and Khao Lak. Press reports to avoid Phuket because of high risks of disease are unfounded and utter rubbish.
The cleanup operation is well under way. In many places, including Kata where I live, you wouldn't know anything had happened. The only sign of something untoward is the silent streets and deserted beaches.
There are not bodies lying unattended on beaches. There is not lack of medicine. The hospitals here are, in my view, better than those in the UK. As for lack of blood, one hospital even sent out a message asking people not to come to donate anymore, as their blood banks were full and they had nowhere left to store it.
The biggest disaster that can happen to Thailand now is if people stop coming here on holiday. The local economy here has been devastated, with thousands of people losing jobs, and many businesses on the verge of bankruptcy. And you have to remember that there is no social security in Thailand. If you don't work, then you don't get paid!
We would, therefore, encourage people to keep coming and support Thailand by spending your money here. It is a clean, safe place to be, just as safe, if not safer, than most other tourist destinations around the world. Don't let one unfortunate freak of nature and thousands of over-dramatic news reports put people off. The people in the Land of Smiles are still smiling . . . for now!
Iain Page
Sharkey Scuba
Phuket, Thailand
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Greetings, DAN and Members:
I was in Thailand helping with international victim identification teams. I am sending you the following email from a longtime Thailand resident. It is not good to put out a blanket statement about not going to the disaster areas because there are many areas in Thailand that were not hit too badly. These people need tourists to come, or they will go bankrupt and only add to the disaster. Yes, people should not go to Koh Phi Phi or Koh Lak right now, but most of the other areas in Thailand are up and running and need tourists. The beaches are clean and empty. Prayers, money, and support for the survivors are always needed. Thanks for your support!
Dear Friend,
Phuket has just suffered a grave human tragedy, but now its people are again threatened. This new threat comes from educated Europeans, Americans, Australians and others -- most of whom know better, but have to compete and sell. Sell news.
A commercial approach to disaster news threatens immeasurable harm to the very survivors of this tsunami tragedy who need help from the West, not increased hardship.
The news broadcast by global satellite TV and news organizations in the past weeks has given the world the impression that Phuket, Thailand, has been wiped out by the tsunami and now lies in ruins. Unbalanced, almost unethical reports have been seen on famed channels, reaching millions of viewers. I have seen discussion of the situation in Phuket, for example, voiced over horrific background images of complete devastation stretching to the horizon but taken in Sumatra.
Phuket's reality is very different. Though a few hundred people were tragically killed by the tsunami on the beaches here, little of the island has been harmed by the waves. Here are more facts:
* Almost none of Phuket's infrastructure has been closed down.
* More than 80 percent of its hotel rooms remain open to business as usual. Only a small percentage of the restaurants, shops, bars and attractions have been disrupted.
* Few places suffered damage more than 100 metres from the beach.
* There is no shortage of drinking water, food or serious threat of disease (nor lack of helpful, smiling people).
Life in Phuket is surprisingly normal, if saddened by the deaths.
Two places in Thailand were wiped out: Phi Phi Island, 48 kilometres southeast of Phuket, and Khao Lak, 100 kilometres north in neighbouring Phang Nga province. They are our neighbours, and we feel for them.
Each time international news organizations and foreign newspapers talk of Phuket in the same apocalyptic terms as Sumatra, Sri Lanka or Khao Lak, they are hurting the chances of the local Thais in Phuket picking up their lives again. Poor reporting and focus on the sensational chases away future tourist clients, ensuring these people's lives will be difficult for much longer.
Every day that such false impressions of Phuket continue means increased hardship for its people. Correcting this is where you can help.
To give precise information on the situation on Phuket we at Thai-based ARTASIA PRESS have put eyewitness accounts of the island, beach-by-beach onto our website (below). If you love Phuket, are interested in it, or otherwise want to help its people get through these difficult times, please look at the real situation.
And, please, forward this message of reality to as many friends as you possibly can.
Sincerely,
John Everingham, Publisher
ARTASIA PRESS
Bangkok, Phuket, Samui and Bali
website with beach-by-beach accounts of Phuket: www.phuketmagazine.com
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To Whom It May Concern,
Many people overseas have been asking what they can do to help those here in Thailand affected by the tsunami disaster. Obviously sending money to aid organizations is an excellent way to start, but we also need to be looking at what we can do long-term. For those of us foreigners here, we have the option of returning home, or re-locating elsewhere to find work. For the Thai locals, this luxury does not exist.
Contrary to what is sometimes being portrayed, Phuket itself is safe and ready to accept tourists. What the locals need to rebuild their community is tourism. They are now more than ever dependent upon tourists to come to Phuket and stay in the resorts, hotels and guesthouses, eat at the restaurants, go shopping, go on day trips, and go diving. Without this, the local Thai population will suffer even further.
The media is currently portraying the most negative image possible of the recent events as drama “sells.” We now need to move past this and work towards re-establishing the tourist industry that the huge majority of locals solely rely on. They are ready to get on with their lives, but they can’t do it without you!
What we are asking of you is to help Thailand by communicating this to the general public. By doing this you will be helping the Thai community as a whole recover from this horrible disaster. Let’s re-build Thailand together!
Sincerely,
Kylie Stevenson
SSS Hyperbaric Services
Phuket, Thailand
Phone: +66 1978 5876
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Tuesday, day 2 [after the tsunami], was the most horrible one for me. My dive center decided to take the boat out and see if we could "help" in Phi Phi. We ran around trying to get all the dive instructors out of bed and on the boat. More than half refused to go . . . scared of other waves or still dealing with their emotions.
I went. With five others. We managed to convince the local Thai captain to drive the boat, which can carry 35 people. We ran around buying covers, fresh water bottles, food, medical supplies, all the other dive school [couldn’t] go but gave us their oxygen cylinders. We also packed our dive gear. We were on a mission . . . HELPING.
We had one-hour boat ride to get there. We were dead silent. We tried to do a "briefing" of what our plan of action was going to be. Halfway there, the boat slowed down, trying to pass in between the coconut trees that were floating away, then we stopped in front of every boat we found submerged, hoping no one was in this one, or this one, or that one.
Then, debris, trash, everywhere floating . . . clothes, fins, cosmetics bottles, dead fishes. Finally we got inside the bay of Phi Phi. Thai navy boats leaving the island were crossing us, packed with tourists on their decks.
We came off the boat and walked around, stepping over housing, trees, televisions, beds, chairs, restaurant plates, pieces of broken windows. We decided to talk to someone in charge, and HELP.
For those who have been to Phi Phi, if you look at the sandy beach right in the middle, other than the strong concrete walls, there is NOTHING left. Dive centers, bungalows, restaurants, all is gone. We took an hour just walking around in silence.
Finally we get through to one guy in charge, they were shocked to see us there. He gave us two rescue guys to come with us on the boat, and he asked us to go around and see if we found any more floating bodies.
So we left with trash bags, covers and sheets, going back and forth in the bay and finally around the entire island.
We found cats and dogs alive and lost. And a monkey. We took him on board, and came back home. They left him at the Buddhist temple on my island where we know the monks will feed him.
On the ride back, I wondered why? What have we done to deserve this? Why so many people? Is it us, humans, not being ecologically concerned enough with the environment? Is it the overfishing of the seas?
It was hard for the mind, and my heart stopped many times yesterday. But I am sticking around. Maybe people will realize our island has been "lucky" with only 60 dead, and they will come this way. I don't know. I will be sticking around for a while to see how the tourism industry will do. But the streets are quiet, and tourists are still trying to go back home.
If by January’s end there is no one, I go around Asia to hopefully discover a better [view] of it.
I thank my guardian angel. And let's have minutes of silence for those who were left behind.
Andlauer Anne-lyse
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The diving community came together and became our support, our medical care, our food.
My name is Paul Landgraver, and I am a survivor of the tsunami. I had just returned to Khao Lak, Thailand (the part worst hit) after completing my DMT course in Honduras.
What an inauguration! I hadn't even sent in my dues and form yet. I want to say that if it weren't for the training I had received from Ron Ellerman (the Remote Medic course was incredibly helpful) there would have been many more lives lost. Aside from stand trauma victims, there were a great many near-drownings (as well as drownings) that I had to deal with.
Here’s my story.
Sitting around, day after Christmas, just staring at the TV, some movie we've seen before. Mid-morning, post-breakfast stupor controlling Karin and me. The power flickers and we moan. We'll have to get up and do something? Then we hear some yelling outside.
I look out the front door, still puffed up with pride about our new house, just 400 feet back from the beach. People are running up our street yelling. It looks like a fire at the large two-story resort that effectively blocks our view of the beach. Smoke and dust coming up and all these people.
Then a small line of really brown water comes rolling toward us. That's weird. But I reckon it must be some strange full-moon high tide. So we go upstairs so we don't get wet. I look out the window and try and take some pictures.
There is a quiet rumble to it, like those white-noise generators supposed to help you sleep. The water is getting higher and higher, and then it destroys our friend's cement bungalow. Next, our front door caves in, and then water is coming up the stairs!
This was the last point my brain worked for a long time.
We try and throw a mattress out the window to float on, but the water is rising too fast. Out the window we climb. It's all going so fast: it's faster than conscious thought, and by the time we are on our second-story roof, the water is coming out the window. We jump.
Karin doesn't jump at the same time; or did I jump too early? We're separated. I scream her name, but the crashing roiling water mutes me.
I can't hear her. I scream and scream until I get hit by something and pulled under. I can't swim to the top, I pull myself through trash and wood to the surface and off I go.
Ahead are trees wrapped in flotsam and as I look a Thai man is struggling to get free of it. As I pass by at 30 mph I realize he is impaled on a piece of wood and can't even scream.
My brain shut down when Karin disappeared, and now all I can do is survive. Something triggers and I swim. I swim to avoid the trees that will trap me, possibly kill me. It seems that I am atop the crest of the tsunami, which is less like a wave than a flood.
From on high I can see the water hit buildings, then rise, then watch the buildings collapse into piles of concrete and rebar. I swim to avoid these.
Left and right I paddle, looking ahead the whole time, trying to figure the hazards. None of this is conscious, this isn't me thinking it out: it's some recessed part of the brain coming out and taking control.
I was busy seeing the weird things, like massive diesel trucks being rolled end over end. Or the car launched through the second-story wall of a former luggage shop. Or the person high up in a standing tree in a lurid orange thong. Or the older foreigner who got stuck in the wood and steel wrapped around a tree, and then his body torn off while his head remained. I couldn't scream.
I was pulled under; my pants caught on something. I decided that this was neither the place nor time for me to die, and ripped my pants off. I surfaced into a hunk of wood, which cut my forehead.
Some people reached out to me, and I [reached] back, but the water was too fast and erratic. Some people screamed for help, and I told them to swim. Some people just stared with empty eyes, watching what happened, but seeing nothing.
At some point, I passed a guy, cut on his cheek, holding onto a big piece of foam. We just made eye contact and shrugged apathetically at each other. Then I turned ahead to watch fate. When I looked back he was gone.
Trees were pulled down, and their flotsam added to the flow. I was hit by a refrigerator and pushed toward a building that was collapsing. I swam and swam and swam and swam and still was pushed right toward a huge clump of jagged sticks and metal.
I was pulled under, kicked toward the mass, cut my feet and kicked again. I popped up on the other side, spun around and pulled under again.
Down there, I knew it was not the time, and I pulled my way up through the floating rubbish of my former town. I pulled and pulled and my lungs ached for air.
This seemed to go on for weeks: time simply left the area alone. I grabbed the edge of a mattress and floated. Breathing, just breathing. Awareness brought back by the sound and look of a waterfall.
Trying to push up onto the mattress more and more, and it took my weight less and less. Tumbling over the edge, sucked under again, and out I shot, swirled into a coconut grove, where the water seemed to have stopped. There was even a dyke-like wall around the grove.
The water spun and churned, but went nowhere and got no higher. It wasn't swimming, or climbing, but something in between. I made my way to the land.
Every step had to be careful with broken glass everywhere and sheet metal poking out. It was a long, slow struggle.
The low rumble had stopped, and now is the occasional creak of wood on wood and metal scraping. Moans came across the new brown lake. A small boy was in a tree crying, asking for his parents in Norwegian.
I climbed up onto the dyke and looked around. I screamed out for Karin, getting responses in Thai only. I stood there, panting, trying to find a thought, anything.
As I came back to earth I needed to pee. The first thing I did after surviving the tsunami was pee! Along limps an older Thai guy, finds me, naked atop a dyke amid the destruction, covered in mud and filth.
I spent the next minutes running from high point to high point screaming out for Karin. If I made it, she could too. There was no response from her.
I found plenty of other people, and helped whom I could, but always looking across this vast area of new lakes for her head.
Through the trees was a PT boat, a large steel police cruiser. The boat and I had been brought more than a kilometer (2/3 mile) inland.
I was standing near a tree, hoping for a clue, anything to say she was out there somewhere. A small boy in a tree whimpered, and I pulled him down. We went inland. There were houses, still standing, a whole neighborhood atop a rise that was untouched. Just feet away were cars wrapped around trees. I handed over the boy.
I had finished my medic training exactly one month before, so I went to work. Pulling people out of mud, from under houses.
One car, upright against the trunk of a tree still had the driver. He was dead. It went on. Before this I had only seen a dead body once or twice. That was remedied very quickly.
I pulled people out of the water, only to have them choke and die right there. I would take someone's pulse, scream for help, then find that they had died before we could do anything. It was beyond any nightmare or fear I have ever had.
An older Thai woman came up to me with a pair of shorts and averted eyes. She was ashamed that I was totally naked. I slipped them on. She smiled and scurried away.
Roaming the former streets looking for foreigners to send to the higher ground, a place where we could all meet and tend to wounds.
After an hour some Thais came screaming out of the mud saying there was another wave coming, and flying into the hills. We were left alone. Those who could walk did, the rest were carried. We made a new base, higher and safer. And the same thing happened again. And again.
Eventually we ended up in the jungle at a park, where there was water and high ground. It was messy.
Eventually there were about 300 foreigners, about 120 of whom were injured pretty severely with broken limbs and ribs, near-drownings. Everyone had gashes of some kind, severed fingers or toes and shock everywhere.
There was no medicine, no tools, no scissors, no bandages. Nothing but well water (of questionable cleanliness) and some sticks and clothes. I tried to find anyone medically trained.
It was only the diving instructors who all had [knowledge of] basic first aid. So we cleaned wounds with the water, we broke sticks and set bones and talked people into a relatively calm place. If someone was severely cut, we used their own clothing to mend the wounds.
It was a horror story. The floor was covered in blood, people were moaning or vomiting or asking us to help them. And more arrived with every new wave of cars and trucks fleeing the "next wave."
After hours of this, we got news of helicopters evacuating the injured. So everyone rushed toward the trucks. I had push and pull people out of the way: the ones who needed the evac the most were the ones who couldn't get to the trucks.
After 20 minutes of sorting through the priorities, and feeling like we had a handle on it, someone brought me to a girl who was bleeding severely out of her thigh. She was in shock. No one had brought her to our little clinic area; instead they had left her in the back of the truck.
Finally, after a few helicopters had pulled out the worst, I headed back down. We drove through rubber tree plantations and coconut groves. It seemed quiet and relaxed. At the last corner it was devastation. The road was clear and dry up to a certain point, and then it was a horizon of rubble. I shuddered.
Someone on a scooter came up and asked for a doctor. Everyone looked at me! I jumped on and they took me up roads I never knew existed, and over bridges that were barely standing until I was brought to five foreigners in the middle of nowhere.
One of them was a good friend and diving instructor. It was the first person I had seen that I knew. It was a total joy. He was banged up pretty bad, but he got out and off to the hospital. Then Thais came roaring up the hill, saying there was another wave. We had to carry four more people with broken bones (including a broken hip) up a hill. There was no wave.
I stumbled back down, wandering through the town, looking for people to help. Eventually I made my way back to the dive shop where I worked. We had always whined about how it was too far off the main road, but it survived. It was a center for the survivors. I walked up to find friends alive and things clean and organized.
I had been able to keep on, doing what I could to help people, to close out my mind to what was around me and look only at what I was doing, to not see the dead people, to not worry about where Karin was. I had held together so well.
When I found out Karin was alive, it all fell apart. I could smell the destruction, the horror I had just walked through, just lived through, that she had lived through.
My body shouted out all the bruises and cuts I had ignored. It all struck me and threw me to the ground. It was too much. I could no longer accept this.
Karin and I hugged and ate, then slept. My feet were cut up, I had small cuts all over my body, and a sinus infection from all the bad water. Karin had gotten hold of a coconut tree, wrapped herself around it and never let go. She had a few bruises and small cuts and a black eye. I was ecstatic to see her.
Most of the rest of our friends had come through. They had set up first aid stations and help stations, organized food and created a center for people to meet. The diving community came together and became our support, our medical care, our food: they did everything they could to help and then some.
The next day I went back to where my house had been and surveyed the damage. One bungalow nearby had been lifted up and dropped on top of another.
The whole beach was visible, meaning all of the two- or three-story hotels that had lined it were gone. There was a jet ski near our house. The bottom floor of our house was gone, the upper floor was missing a couple of walls. The only thing left was a plastic Jesus doll I had bought as a joke.
So I was left with nothing in the world except my own plastic Jesus.
The level of destruction is virtually impossible to describe. On our beach we had approximately 2,500 hotel rooms. It looked to me that maybe 50 could still even be called hotel rooms.
The week between Christmas and New Year's is the busiest of the week. Without warning, without an evacuation plan, the survival rates were minimal. The wave at our house was about 7 meters high (20 feet), and in some places it was 10 meters (30 feet) high. It wiped out the third floor of most resorts.
For my own experience, if not for the medical training (even the most basic CPR) of the dive professionals and their sound minds, there would have been no help of any kind [for 18 hours]. It [took that long] before we had government and NGO aid come into our area.
Although harrowing, this experience was a very positive reinforcement of all the training we [dive professionals] do. I will be pushing basic first aid everywhere and for everyone. As a matter of fact, I am already signed up for a DAN DEMP Instructor course and will do several other DAN courses over the next few months. As a DMT, I know most of these materials already, but now I can and will teach them.
I know the guys who set up http://www.diveaid.co.uk, and they are doing a great thing. I am sure you are inundated with charity requests, but please check out their site. All their energy is now focused on helping the Thais from our community to rebuild their lives and homes. It's a “divers for the diving community charity.” At the very least, check out the "stories" section for other people's account from our town.
By Paul Landgraver
San Francisco, Calif.
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An Account from Phuket, Thailand
My husband Gary and 16-year-old son Peter were on a dive boat in Phuket at the time of the tsunami. They had a late start getting out of Chalong Bay and so were not in the water at 10:27 when the wave hit.
Just before [the wave] hit, my husband noticed the water had grown murky and seemed to have whirlpools in it. When he turned to alert the boat captain, he realized that the captain was in trouble: though he was gunning the engine at full throttle, the boat wouldn't move forward. Fortunately all they experienced was what seemed to be a turbulent, high tide.
Back at the Marina Phuket Hotel, I waited in terror (not knowing their fate) until their boat finally was able to get in about 3 p.m.
We had just joined your program the previous week. Thankfully we all made it home. We mourn for all those who didn't.
Toni Woods
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While I was sitting across from the main market in Phuket Town, a local gentleman bent down to converse with me in broken English about the tsunami disaster.
After our conversation, he proceeded to give me several oranges from his bag, which he said were for my children, wishing us happiness, peace and good health in the New Year. He appeared very distressed with the death of so many tourists visiting his country.
Thai people are remarkable as they have great empathy and caring for others when their own hearts are breaking.
With great trepidation, my husband, Bill, and I departed Vancouver, British Columbia, on Dec. 27, returning to our sailing vessel Canik at Yacht Haven Marina in Phuket, Thailand. Reports of the unprecedented tsunami were coming in fast and furious, the devastation of life and property too catastrophic to comprehend.
Upon our arrival, we were greeted by a marina and sailing vessel that appeared just as we left them seven months earlier. Before our departure in May, we tried to leave Canik at a new marina in Langkawi, Malaysia, called Telaga Harbour. Luckily, our attempts were thwarted as there was not a boat dock available. Hence, Yacht Haven on the northeast side of Phuket Island became Canik’s new resting place.
As fate would have it, Telaga was hit hard, with [many] boats sunk, while others sustained extensive damage. The docks rose higher than the posts holding them due to the magnitude of the incoming waves, allowing docks and boats to float away crashing into each other and the break-wall. Fortunately, there have been no reported deaths of cruisers to date as many of the boats were unattended.
Death and destruction in Phuket is localized to the west coast beaches; therefore, life outside these affected areas appears outwardly normal, although the lack of tourists is clearly evident. While I was sitting across from the main market in Phuket Town laden with bags, a local gentleman bent down to converse with me in broken English about the tsunami disaster. After our conversation, he proceeded to give me several oranges from his bag, which he said were for my children, wishing us happiness, peace and good health in the New Year. He appeared very distressed with the death of so many tourists visiting his country.
Thai people are remarkable as they have great empathy and caring for others when their own hearts are breaking. I was very moved by the experience. This outpouring of concern is indicative of the great care rendered all tourists in the aftermath of December 26.
My attempts to volunteer prove how quickly the Thai government and local people are handling the tragedy, as just a week after the tsunami, foreign help was not required at the local government office unless you were an interpreter.
We drove to the International School, where the homeless were being sheltered (as the school was empty due to the holidays). After donating clothes and magazines which were appreciated, I offered our help for any project, but our assistance was not required. However, our contact information was taken in the event our services could be put to use in the future.
On our rented moped, Bill and I visited the west coast beaches attempting to contact local people we had met on previous visits. Shockingly, our favorite restaurant in the small beach community of Kamala was totally destroyed, with no word on the fate of our friends, as the few Thai workers on site could not speak English or us Thai.
A reporter and camera crew from UNICEF were filming the vast destruction in this area. Inquiring, we learned they were donating school supplies to all six districts to ensure that schools would open on time. School routine, allowing some order of normalcy, will help the healing process.
The Phuket Gazette [Volume 12, Issue 2] stated,” Kamala was the area on Phuket worst hit by the wave. There, it claimed some 65 lives, including 9 foreigners, left 50 families homeless and damaged a further 200 homes.”
We drove north of Kamala to Surin Beach where, in great contrast, there was little evidence a tsunami had hit. Cabanas and lawn chairs were lined up like sentries all in a row on the beautiful, pristine sand beach. Unlike Kamala, Surin harbour is much deeper which prevented the wave from building up to a great height and breaking on the shoreline.
The local staff could not believe their good fortune, with no loss of life and only minor damage. Patong Beach was another story with its famous seaside establishments left in partial ruins. What we find truly remarkable is the swiftness by which the local population is cleaning up and rebuilding. Bulldozers, cranes, various sorts of heavy equipment are ubiquitous as are dedicated throngs of female sweepers, brooms flying high.
With the absence of tourists in the wake of the tsunami comes hardship of another kind: the loss of livelihood for so many local people. The Thai government is combating this by promoting and advertising the wonders of this magnificent country. The psychological barrier invoked by the great loss of life makes it difficult for foreigners to vacation here, although serious consideration must be given to the dire consequences if tourists stay away.
The Tourism Authority of Thailand [TAT] Governor Juthamas Siriwan stated on January 3 that any delay in recovering from the December 26 tsunami will cost the country 10 billion baht (approximately 330 million Canadian dollars) a month in lost tourist revenue. As a result, the TAT are in a hurry to let people abroad know that any danger from the tsunami has already passed, and many tourist destinations that were damaged are recovering and are expected to be fully operational within a month. [The Phuket Gazette, Volume 12, Issue 2]
At this rate, rebirth will be rapid, given the industrious efforts of the Thais which we have evidenced firsthand. Vendors at Patong Beach have moved their wares back approximately 1,000 feet from the shoreline to streets untouched by the waves. However, the lack of tourists always keen to cash in on unbelievable bargains makes life stressful and worrisome. One young vendor showed me his injuries and described stories of his friends who had been swept away. The narratives related by local people and many of our cruising friends are the makings of nightmares.
I can attest firsthand to the fact that Phuket still has much to offer tourists not only as a beautiful, tropical haven but as a place where friendly, warm, and welcoming people can be found on every corner.
When I reflect back to all the wonderful local people we have met along the beaches of Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and Sri Lanka grief fills my heart when I think of their possible fate. The resilience and will of the human spirit to overcome adversity, along with the generosity and empathy displayed throughout the world, will provide the strength to carry on.
Let us hope that 2005 will bring peace to the world and healing to so many suffering people.
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Diving in the Maldives During the Tsunami
Hello Everyone!
Thanks for all your concern! When I sent out my seasons greetings email, it never crossed my mind that I would be writing to all of you again so soon!
[After the tsunami] communications are all more or less back to normal. I received so many emails, and I'll try to reply individually, but here is a short version of what happened to me when the tsunami hit the Maldives.
It was one of the strangest experiences in my life, DIVING while the tsunami passed overhead.
We were supposed to go to another site farther away that morning, two hours by boat, to check out some mantas, but due to lack of enthusiasm (Italians like to sleep in and didn't want to get up at 7 to dive, thank God!), I decided to go to a shark point about 20 minutes away instead.
The weather was absolutely beautiful as usual, but the sea was very rough, and the decision was made not to tie down on the Thila, like we usually do. Another lucky decision, because the sea is usually calm, the crew tied the rope as tightly as possible and didn’t leave any extra rope to allow for water movement/tide changes, like we do in SA.
I had four experienced divers with me, and we did a negative entry to avoid the [choppy] top conditions. The visibility was not the best, about 20 metres. The currents were strong, and I decided to stay close to the wall.
We were about 25 minutes into the dive, when everything changed. I was at about 20 m when I had to equalise like crazy, but I was staying at the same spot! The depth had suddenly changed, the visibility went down to about 2 metres, and we had a massive surge motion.
I didn't know what had caused it; all I could think of was that it was on or near full moon, and that it may be a freak high tide.
When the currents changed again and were throwing us around like [we were in] a washing machine, I really got worried. Even the fish were behaving erratically: the sharks came so close I could reach out and touch them.
That’s when I decided to cut the dive short, at about 35 minutes into the dive. We literally crawled, holding onto the reef to get to the 5 m safety stop. Like flags in the wind. I don't know what we would’ve done if the boat wasn't there to pick us up.
Santana, the local divemaster, in the meantime, was frantic with worry and came with our other dive boat to see if we were OK, thinking that we had tied down to the reef. When we hit the surface and heard what had happened, we broke ALL records getting divers back on board!
We headed for Halaveli, not knowing what to expect. Back in Halaveli everyone thought that they had lost us, and it was welcome to [be] remember[ed]! This was a “once in a lifetime” experience, which I hope never to repeat. My guardian angel may not be around next time.
It's amazing how the different nationalities reacted to this crisis: the Italians wanted to know immediately how quickly they would be evacuated back to Italy and were frantic, the Germans wanted to know the exact reason for the tsunami and more details, whereas all the English got themselves a beer and a high spot to watch what was happening.
It's really an unimaginable disaster, which we only started hearing about as the days passed. Here on Halaveli, in the Ari Atoll, we were more protected by other islands around us, so the water damage was minimal.
All the normal water activities have resumed, and we are diving again. We had to wait for the strong currents to subside, so we will only really start to see if there is a lot of damage to coral as we visit the various dive sites.
Well, there you have it - I dived the tsunami and survived!
Liz from Halavely Islanda, Maldives
(Taken from http://www.mydive.it by the DAN Europe Foundation)
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After The Wave...
A short note from the writer:
I think it is important for people to know that the tsunami damage in Thailand, though severe in some areas, was not “general devastation over wide areas” but quite highly focused. From the perspective of a diver, there is absolutely no reason not to go to the Phuket area or the Similan Islands area.
Larry Hutchinson
...Should I Dive in Thailand?
If you had a scuba diving trip planned to Thailand’s Phuket Island area dive sites or up into the Similan Islands, I’m sure you’re asking the question: Should I dive in Thailand?
No wonder. You’ve seen the TV news coverage, you’ve browsed the Internet, you’ve talked to booking agents and dive operators, and you’ve got more questions now than before you started: How’s the diving? Can I get a hotel? Is it safe there?
Well, if you’ve thought about all of this and have any doubts about putting yourself, your family, or your money at risk, I am here to tell you that Phuket and the Similans are ready to [have] you. Even better, if you’ve thought about sending some aid to those affected by the tsunami, please do so.
As to Accommodations...
Certainly there were areas that were hit hard. Patong Beach sustained some significant damage, but the cleanup is progressing quickly. Basically most anything that was more than about 100 meters back from the beach is open for business and the beach itself is fine.
The Karon and Kata Beach areas sustained some damage, but it is mostly cosmetic. The infrastructure is working normally, and I’d take my family there tomorrow. Listen to the dive operators: they live there, and they will give you the straight story. They are smart people, they know that if they don’t [give you the straight story] you won’t be back again, and this area depends on repeat tourists.
Unlike typhoon damage which covers large areas, the [tsunami] damage in this area, although severe in some cases, is limited to a relatively small area close to the beach. Koh Phi Phi was severely damaged, but as I haven’t been there I won’t comment. Check with people who have. The beaches are still there and they are just as nice as ever, although you may have to settle for a beach towel instead of a lounge chair for a little while. The bars and restaurants are open, and there are plenty of hotel rooms to be had.
Up in the Similans you will have to look hard to see much on-shore damage. There was some [damage] on Islands #4 and #8 but if you’re on a liveaboard you’ll never know the difference: it still looks like paradise.
Could It Happen Again?
I’m not a seismologist but I’d say anything is possible. But it’s highly improbable. Skeptical? I understand, but I was there before and after Boxing Day. I’ve logged over 200 dives in the area on sites like Hin Daeng, Hin Muang, Koh Doc Mai, and especially in the Similans, Koh Bon, Koh Tachai and Richelieu Rock over the last few years.
We were up in the Similans from 19 Dec. to 23 Dec. on the Colona VI and the diving was fantastic, like I’ve become accustomed to. It was so good that I managed to talk the cruise director, Mark Allen, and Patrick, the owner, into letting me go back out on 24 Dec. for another six-day trip, despite the fact there was no cabin space left and I would have to sleep on deck! The winds were up Friday night, so we elected to head north to the Similans rather than risk not being able to make it out to Hin Daeng and Hin Muang because of rough seas.
Just Before the Wave
Christmas Day was filled with four great dives, a nice Christmas present. Boxing Day saw us returning from an early morning 61-minute dive on Barracuda Point about 20 minutes before things got a little strange.
Now I grew up, and have logged hundreds of dives, in the cold waters of the Gulf of Maine, where the tide fall is in the range of 6 to 10 meters (versus the 2-3 meters of the Similans). I’m used to seeing a lot of water movement on a tide change and diving in crazy currents.
Water started pouring through the gap between Islands #5 & #6 (Koh Payu), tidal rips (standing waves) could be seen all around, and the water was a mean-looking greenish color. This was not the Thailand sea condition I’d become accustomed to! Neither Mark, who’s logged thousands of dives over six years in the Similans nor our Thai captain with 30 years’ experience had ever seen anything like it.
We watched the water draw back on a small beach on Island #4 (Koh Miang) about 2-3 meters vertically and then come back in and flood the beach. This happened two or three times. None of us really knew what had happened until the radio brought us news of the devastation in places like Kao Lac . . . so that’s what a tsunami looks like.
In the interest of safety we suspended diving operations for the rest of the day, waiting we thought, for the tsunami to hit, not realizing that it already had. For us, aside from a little crazy water, it was just another beautiful day on a liveaboard dive boat in Thailand.
What About the Diving?
Well we stayed up in the Similan Islands and over the next 10 days dived all of the sites in the Similan Islands, Koh Bon, Koh Tachai and Richelieu Rock.
Breakfast Bend, one of my favorites, was badly damaged. This is a steep, deep, boulder site, and the damage started deep at 40 meters, with large sections of substrate torn away up to 2 meters thick. Much of this beautiful site is rubble, kind of like diving in a quarry. Deep Six and Christmas Point were also hit hard with similar damage.
On East of Eden there is one section of salad coral below “The Bommy” that was hit hard, but the rest of the site is in good shape. For the most part, the rest of the sites in the Similans are fine, with only minor damage. Some table corals that were turned over have been fixed, and you will see some occasional damage but the diving is great.
“Clouds” of fish, leopard sharks, turtles, octopus, blue spot stingrays, black- and whitetip reef sharks, beautiful soft corals, hard corals and sea fans: everything the Similans are famous for. If you are into “small stuff” the macro world is just as fantastic as ever, with nudibranchs, flatworms, ghost pipefish and tiger-tail seahorses looming large in the viewfinder of your camera.
Koh Bon is pretty much as it has been, some damage in the “bay,” but this place that endured years of dynamite fishing has staged a miraculous recovery over the last few years. The West Ridge is largely unaffected, and I saw three manta rays there doing their version of water ballet in the currents. This is still one of my favorite dive sites.
Koh Tachai, another of my most favorite sites in the world, is still the place of strong currents and “gazillions” of fish. You don’t dive this site for the corals, you dive it for the fish, and they haven’t gone anywhere. This is always a place that challenges but rewards you. I’ve seen more cool stuff on this site than any other single site, including manta rays and whale sharks.
Richelieu Rock, out in the open ocean, was essentially untouched. This is a great site: don’t spend all of your time looking for mantas and whale sharks, because if you know where to look, you’ll find tiger-tail seahorses, ghost pipefish, harlequin shrimp, frogfish and my favorite, peacock mantis shrimp. And while you are doing your safety stop inside the “horns,” don’t forget to have a look at the school of chevron barracuda that hang out there.
I haven’t personally been there, but I understand from divers I trust, that Hin Daeng and Hin Muang are in great shape (these are awesome sites) and that the rest of the sites in the South are “open for business.”
Yes, Thailand has suffered a natural disaster but the extent of the damage is nothing like Indonesia, Sri Lanka or Chennai. A far greater and more insidious disaster is if people stop going to Thailand to vacation and to dive.
Business As Usual
For the most part it is “business as usual” in Thailand, and everything that you want to go there for is readily available. As for me, I’m taking my daughters to Kata Beach for spring break the first week in March, and we are going up into the Similans on the Colona VI for some diving. If I don’t see you there it’ll be your loss, and I’ll have the dive sites all to myself.
Still have questions? Feel free to e-mail me at mainediver218@yahoo.com; I’ll try to answer your questions.
Larry Hutchinson, Diving Fanatic & Global Traveler
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Back: Reports About the Tsunamis
DAN is Your Dive Safety Association
More from DAN
Reports About the Tsunamis
* Thailand
* Maldives
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THAILAND
Canadians Gobeil and Francois had traveled to the island of Koh Phi Phi, where they were working on becoming scuba instructors. They were just getting on the dive boat with eight others when, without warning, the first wave hit.
"The water at the pier is 18 meters (60 feet) deep, so there was no warning," she said. "The wave just came up. It was 9 meters (30 feet) high. My boyfriend yelled to run, but I froze and could not run."
She managed to hold on to the railing of the pier until the metal broke loose in her hands. Tossed around “like a rag doll in a washing machine,” she was pulled to the surface three times while in the wave while at he same time being pushed onto one side of a mountain and through a bamboo hut full of people that were washed away alongside her.
Eventually she ended up on the roof of the dive operation’s compressor shed about 12 meters (400 feet) away with electric cables wrapped around her wrist and unable to walk.
Her partner, Francois, suffered severe cuts after he was flung through debris of trees, furniture and construction on the side of another mountain landing next to several dead Thai children in a schoolyard. Eventually, Francois and Gobeil were united and, after spending the night in the jungle, they were airlifted by helicopter to Phuket.
Two Serbian divers on vacation in Thailand say they survived the deadly tsunami because they chose to go diving rather than sunbathe on the beach.
"We are alive thanks to scuba diving, because the high cliffs surrounding the remote bay on Thailand's Phi Phi island softened the impact of the giant waves.”
Whether the waves were softened or not, their boat, with three other tourists and a guide, was overturned by the mass of water and they were washed onto high ground. They survived on coconuts on the top of a hill for 30 hours before being rescued.
Open Letters About the Tsunamis
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MALDIVES
British divers Matthew Oliver and Emma Simcox were forced down to 38 meters (125 feet) by wild cross currents when the tsunami rolled over them while diving off of Hakuraa, the Maldives’ most southerly island. They eventually managed an emergency ascent, sharing air, and returned to Hakuraa, to find their beach bungalow destroyed and their few remaining possessions stolen.
"When we reached our island there was debris everywhere -rubbish, bottles, trees, lamps from beach bungalows. The roof had been ripped off the restaurant and there was a boat in the trees. People were covered in blood. The husband of one injured woman told me that his wife had been dragged underwater and had her skin ripped off by broken glass and coral.”
A Pakistan Navy destroyer eventually rescued the couple.
George Chinn was down about 15 meters (50 feet) diving off the coastline of Meru, an hour from Male, when the main 9-meter (30-foot) wall of water surged over him. He was forced to cling to the reef as the huge surge threatened to drag him out to sea. He surfaced to wood and lifejackets floating in the water.
"The whole thing lasted only a few minutes, but it was not until we got back to the island that we realized the scale of what had happened.
Greg and Deirdre Stegman, retired diving instructors from Queensland, were about a half mile offshore of Faru diving at 18 meters (60 feet) when they were suddenly sucked down to 27 meters (90 feet) in a one-second underwater terror ride. They held on to the reef to save their lives.
"We would have gone down another 9 to 18 meters (30 to 60 feet) if we had not held on to the reef," he said. They had no idea what was happening.
On the boat ride out, they had noticed the currents were particularly strong that morning, which was unusual. Once in water, along with six other experienced divers from France, Switzerland, and the UK, the current completely changed direction, sweeping all the divers in one direction for seven to eight minutes at about five knots.
Then, after about five minutes, the strong current changed direction and sucked the divers back in the other direction. Mr. Stegman said the diving party managed somehow to keep together by holding on to their diving buddies.
"Every now and again we'd see the other divers come past us and they'd disappear again.”
Somehow their diving boat remained intact and it was able to take them back to the shore.
A divemaster on the live-aboard Manthiri reports that their boat met the wave at Vaavu Atoll with no damage. He described the wave as like nothing he had ever seen in his lifetime.
“When the wave flowed in, the tiny islands were consumed and when it ebbed, the reefs, normally several meters under the water, were naked and visible.”
Reported by Jeroen Deknatel, Managing Director, Fantasea Divers - Ocean Rover Cruises
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Georgian Snorkeling When Tsunami Hit
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Laura Sulllivan, who used live to in Gwinnett County, was snorkeling in Thailand when the tsunami hit. She made it back to Lawrenceville, Georgia Wednesday after surviving a terrifying ordeal.
Suillivan, 24, called her family on Dec. 25 to say with them well on Christmas. The family did not hear from her again for 22 anxious hours.
“While we were underwater, we heard a really strange noise, a kind of whooshing noise, like a sound of a wave coming and we felt a little prickly sensation all over us, so I came up and asked my friend, ‘What is that?’” she recalled.
“As I turned to swim in, my friend got sucked in to a tide. It was just a strange tide. All of a sudden she was a football field away. The captain of the boat just told me to get on,” she said.
A kayaker picked up Sullivan’s friend.
She and her group were feeling the effects of the tsunami and the aftermath would leave her stranded on the boat she was snorkeling on at the beginning of the day for the next 40 hours.
She had no idea of the devastation on the islands and the countries around her until she and her group came ashore two days later.
“It was the most horrible thing I’ve ever seen,” she said. “[There were] bodies floating on water.”
“Televisions, chairs, cushions, like entire bungalows just floating by, entire contents of the island just floating by,” she added. “We knew at that point something wasn’t right.”
“And when we got up toward the pier itself, we noticed the entire town was flat,” she said. “Over half the people on that island didn’t make it.”
The captain of Sullivan’s boat was able to get her and the people in her group to a rescue ship. The rescue ship took them to a survivor’s way station. From there Sullivan flew to Tokyo, Japan, and then back to Atlanta.
Local Woman Barely Escapes Deadly Tsunami
Couple Was Snorkeling Off Thailand When Disaster Struck
POSTED: 4:25 pm EST December 28, 2004
UPDATED: 11:37 am EST December 29, 2004
CINCINNATI -- A Cincinnati woman's parents are calling it a "miracle" that she survived the deadly tsunami even while others swimming around her were sucked into the monstrous waves, News 5's Raegan Butler reported.
Ellen Kucia
Ellen Kucia, 23, and her boyfriend, Kevin, were on vacation on the small island of Kophiphidon -- off the coast of Thailand – and were snorkeling in the ocean when the giant waves hit, according to her parents, John and Mary Kucia of Hyde Park.
Watch This Story
"All of a sudden, this great surge of water went past them," father John said. "It must have been at the edge of the tsunami. It swirled around and some people near them were sucked into the whirlpool.
"Ellen said she noticed the water was bubbling up and it was a really strange color. And then there was a smell of sulfuric acid coming up," mother Mary said.
When Ellen and Kevin, both teachers in Tokyo, made it to shore, they saw that the town had been swept away.
"They saw potato chips, bottles of water and bodies," John Kucia said.
Ellen and Kevin climbed a hill as high as they could and spent the night there, in their swimsuits, until rescue boats arrived the next day.
Back in Cincinnati, the Kucias had to wait 16 agonizing hours after the first news reports before they got a phone call from Ellen.
"She was crying. She was most upset about the people around her," Mary Kucia said.
Despite what she went through, Ellen is determined to continue traveling, her parents said.
Luckily, she and Kevin had kept their passports and money with them while they were snorkeling.
She and others on the island that day plan to write about their experience, her parents said.
Copyright 2005 by ChannelCincinnati.com. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
TISE - Tsunami International Survey On Emotional Impact is a site from University Medical Center Utrecht meant for everyone who was in one of the countries affected by the tsunami and was a victim of it in any way. But the web site also contains information for relatives (and others involved) about the emotional impact of being a victim of a natural disaster.) www.DivePsych.com - A separate research study on PTSD (Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder) in divers in/under/on/near water on 26 December 2004 when the Indonesian Tsunami hit is being proposed by Dr. Colvard. Information will be available on this site as soon as it is available. The study would begin in about 30 days of this tragic and traumatic event and last for about 12 months. PTSD may become a barrier to some of these divers returning to the water. If you know of any divers or snorkelers who were in/on/near the water when the tsunami hit, then please ask them to contact me at dcolvard@mindspring.com about participating in this study. Participation will be entirely voluntary.
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TISE - Tsunami International Survey On Emotional Impact is a site from University Medical Center Utrecht meant for everyone who was in one of the countries affected by the tsunami and was a victim of it in any way. But the web site also contains information for relatives (and others involved) about the emotional impact of being a victim of a natural disaster.) www.DivePsych.com - A separate research study on PTSD (Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder) in divers in/under/on/near water on 26 December 2004 when the Indonesian Tsunami hit is being proposed by Dr. Colvard. Information will be available on this site as soon as it is available. The study would begin in about 30 days of this tragic and traumatic event and last for about 12 months. PTSD may become a barrier to some of these divers returning to the water. If you know of any divers or snorkelers who were in/on/near the water when the tsunami hit, then please ask them to contact me at dcolvard@mindspring.com about participating in this study. Participation will be entirely voluntary.
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Name:Nadeera Rangika Location:AIT, Pathumthani, Thailand
Difficult to say anything about myself... better you'd ask my family and friends. They'd know more about me than I know about myself!
View my complete profile
A flowery trip...
A trip away...
Friday, December 31, 2004
A Tsunami Christmas...
It’s a day before Christmas and we’re on our way in the very comfy bus trying so hard to sleep listening to the rhythms of snores from the guy sitting two seats ahead! The bus had started off at about 6:30 p.m. from the Bangkok Southern Bus Terminal. Mission: Finding Nemo! Destination: Mu Ko Surin! A marine national park, located 70 km offshore in the South of Thailand and famous for excellent diving and snorkeling.
By 5.30 a.m. on Christmas day, we were at Khuraburi where we got our breakfast and wash-up at the Barracuda Diving center, located close to the pier. It was here the entire group of 13 met up; 8 of us from the Asian Institute of Technology and the remaining 5 were friends of Ann from Bangkok. A jolly group of friends we became just looking forward to the oncoming adventures of having a good time.
At this point, I must say that we had enough luggage consisting of food supplies, especially drinks and snacks and it was almost like we were going to sell groceries at the deserted island! Even at Khuraburi, we stocked up on ice, water and more food! We had this big rectangular cooler that needed the two hefty guys to carry around.
We went to the pier where we got on the speed (I mean SPEED!) boat heading to the Island. The journey, one and a half hours, was quite a bumpy one! This was most probably ‘cos of the speed and the waves of course.
On getting close to the Island, the boat slows down as we are amazed at the clear blue waters which border the entire island. It was a blend of blue that’s only captured by your natural eyes and not through lenses of a camera.
On arrival, we were so excited to be allocated to tents and with an instant change of clothes, we were in the blue waters with snorkeling gear. Shallow waters it was, so I personally wasn’t scared but rather felt so peaceful just floating on the water and actually swimming with the fish. At first, I was able to see the little incy white and grey ones but as we got further I did see colorful ones. Without being aware of the increasing depth I was swimming further away in pursuit of fish. With the currents getting stronger I knew it was time to turn back towards the shore and this I did with difficulty as it was a task of swimming against the current. Finally got my foot on the ground and literally walked back to safer waters!
With a sweaty afternoon nap, dangerous nature trail and a spicy dinner, every one turned in early as we had an early start the following day. With time being confirmed by Ann in both Thai and English as 8:30 a.m. we watched a documentary on Ko Surin which really got our desire for the water world rising…. It was incredibly BEAUTIFUL!
Sunday morning and I’m up so early to the sounds of other ‘islanders’. I still couldn’t figure out why they were up as early as 5:30 in the morning! Maybe to avoid the queue at the showers? Or just early birds? I don’t know but I did learn that the view from the tent in the early hours of the morning was so peaceful. The sound of the waves was just soothing enough and its motion kept you gazing forever and ever. And so I was staring until our neighbors woke up as well.
A quick shower and breakfast provided by Baracuda Diving was more than enough to get me going. The sunrise from the East end of the Island filtered through the trees and was making the clear blue waters even brighter than what we’d seen the previous day. We spent half an hour just taking photographs.
I went back to the tent to keep the camera and pick up my hat. Only dressed in a swim suit and wrap-round skirt, I was ready for an adventure. Little did I know that it was going to be a more-than-one-day adventure.
We also noticed with envy, the popular singer at the beach with whom every female islander wanted to be photographed!
We left off on a little boat just enough to accommodate the 13 of us and it took the path around the island and was in deep waters within a couple of minutes. I do have to admit that the further we got away from the island and towards deep waters, my adrenalin was flowing at faster rates than normal! Anyhow, the boat stopped at some point and we were told that we’d be given half and hour to forty minutes for snorkeling.
Getting into water bodies in which my foot doesn’t touch the ground isn’t my specialty so it did take me time to get used to dangling-feet-in-water and the life jacket. It just occurred to me that life did depend on this rightly called life jacket! My first peek into the waters was scary enough! WHY? I didn’t see the bottom!!! I had to get back on to the boat to calm myself and readjust my life jacket to fit. With a little bit of added confidence and life jacket in place, I went in again… after all, there was also another lady in the group who couldn’t swim at all.
My fear was however all gone when I saw the corals which were more like from a colored post card. Not only were they big and colorful, they were for real! Of course they’re real, you’ll say! I wish we could have stayed more than half an hour looking at the corals and fish too! WOW… they were so many! And can you imagine swimming with fish? Right at their own village??? I saw Dori tooo and boy wasn’t she pretty blue? I don’t think she’d remember where Nemo was hiding out or else we could have asked her to guide us there!
Snorkeling in Mu Ko Surin has been stated as being excellent by the Lonely Planet as due to its relatively shallow reef depths of 5 to 6 m.
Our next drop off was at waters close to the remotely located small island quite far from the camping island. We were told that there was a lobster colony at this point. We got in enthusiastically looking for lobsters but didn’t see any. With no success of finding lobsters, we were speculating on the easier route of finding lobsters at the restaurant kitchen! I however saw a fish that swam on its sides! Hmmm… how do I put this: I could see the entire body of the fish while it was swimming!
Going further on searching for lobsters, we could only see debris floating at the bottom over the gigantic corals. There was definitely some disturbance down under. On coming up for a breather, all what was heard was that everyone snorkeling should come back on board. Another boat came by and we were picked up on that in an emergency situation. We weren’t told what was happening at the moment. Some even thought that a shark was around the corner!
About 4 fishing boats picked all those snorkeling around the island and took us far away as possible and as fast as they could, always looking back and forward as were now in between three islands. Right there in the middle of the sea.
All what the boatmen could tell us was that there was an order to get people out of the water as there was a disturbance underwater. Something was definitely wrong they said. They’ve never experienced such phenomena.
With some distance from the island, our own boat came by and we all shifted in there and were together until we saw the Barracuda Diving speed boats came to get us all off the 4 different boats. Each person was carefully lifted to the speed boats, especially the children and the elderly. All the other boats only floated by and all we could do was circle around as there was no way to go near the islands. The waves were too strong and the anger of the underwater waves were pretty unpredictable.
It was on this speed boat that I developed a bad headache as I was under direct sunlight and the boat was swaying too much. I also started to get the feeling of sea sickness all of a sudden. As Barracuda Diving personnel had a box of medication, I asked for some anti-vomiting pills. I was also given a bandage to put on my navel as I was told that it also prevents such sickness. Unfortunately I couldn’t stick this on as directed as I had a one piece swimsuit on me!
I also discovered that the speed boat had a ‘rest-room’. I was warned that there’d be a hole directly to the sea water so I was holding up until I couldn’t any more. I opened the door and was impressed to see a toilet seat not opening into the sea. BUT, only problem with this cubicle was that it was meant for an Asian 5 year old! For me to use it, I had to bend a good 90 degrees to get in through the doors and still be more flexible to actually use it. This would be my prefect definition of an inconvenient inconvenience!
Those standing and out under the sun on the speed boats were then moved to another boat which came closer to pick us up. I moved on to this boat with another 3 from my group and some others as well. We moved further away from the speed boat and went out to calmer waters and joined up with 4 more boats. A total of about 6 boats were tied up together in a row and we were kept company by the boat men who were really friendly and expressed their amazement at a sight which was a first in their life time. We kept looking at the shores of the islands where the waves were doing their best in damage!
While in the boat, those who wished to use the inconvenience had only to go half way into the water and hang onto the boat! This was more convenient than the one at the speed boat! As the afternoon sun kept reminding us of hurting heads, we were also reminded by the rumbles in our abdomens of the hunger for food. The boatmen took it upon themselves to take care of us. It was then coffee was served in half cut plastic water bottles and then lunch! Boiled rice with canned sardine! The boatmen also cut me a lime to help my dizziness and sea sickness.
With almost an hour in the boat, the speed boat came closer to pick us up. The waves seem to be calmer they said and thus, we could go through. So, saying our best thanks to the boat men, we got back on our speed boat and there started the rough journey over the waves.
The waves underneath seems to be angry, those on top seemed troubled. The sailors had no idea of what was going on. All they had to pray for was that they make it through, in between the islands and onto calmer waters. As we get closer to the islands, the waters seem to be getting whiter as the sands were now also involved in this great argument. We see floating bag packs, timbers, float boards and much more that served as enough proof of the non-existence of our tents and belongings therein.
We passed by and there were no longer tents on the beach, rather, debris washed down from up hill and some people were trickling down towards the beach as they searched on for belongings. We weren’t able to see any of our tents which were lined up along the beach, there was nothing there! And going around the island, we notice that the ‘Mu Ko Surin Naitonal Park’ board was no longer there. We were also told by the Barracuda Diving staff that the cafeteria and information center were also down and longer existent. This I’m yet to confirm.
We kept going forward and away from the island, the speed boat was having a hard time making it through. We could only hear the bottom of the boat being hit by God-knows-what. We finally made it out of the rough waters and we were then transferred to a ‘double-decker’ boat where there were more people who had been picked up from around the island and also those who were coming in to the island and never got there.
This boat kept floating until Longlom, a Thai Navy battle ship, came along and picked 134 of us from the boat. It was on its way to Surin and it was only then were we informed of the earthquake in Indonesia. My mind went to 2 friends who’d left for Indonesia just three days before and I was only praying that they hadn’t left the mainland to the Islands.
With lunch on the Navy ship, convenient restrooms and lovely sea breeze blowing through my hair, I look onward to the horizon, listening to the Ship doctor tell me of the events of the day. 2 ships had been deployed to various islands to pick up survivors. The worst hit was Phuket and Phi Phi we’re told. I am thankful to be standing there on a ship heading to mainland whereas there were still others stranded on the islands. We were lucky to have been in the deep waters and not on the islands where the waves would have certainly washed us away. What if it had happened the previous day when we were snorkeling in shallow waters without life jackets?
Oh well, there was a lot of time to ponder and reflect on life in general. There’s nothing more important than to preserve our life. After all, what’s a mobile phone or digital camera or passport; they’re all replaceable, aren’t they? 2 members of our group, mind you, complained of loosing their brand new underwear worth thousands of Baht, specially bought for the trip! (No names mentioned!!!)
Well, our trip package had certainly included sunrise on the earthquake day at Mu Ko Surin, lunch with fishermen on fishing boats, sailing on 5 boats, toilet facilities in 4 modes of transportation and sunset on a Thai Navy battleship. And most importantly, new friends and life!
After having spent 13 hours at sea on 5 different boats ranging from the smallest to the largest, we got to land at about 10 p.m. in the night.
At Ranong, we were able to dock at the harbor after 3 attempts and we could see the Television crew and ambulances waiting. Applause from the well wishers down there welcomed us to Ranong. We were then taken by bus, organized by Barracuda diving to the Ranong provincial office where food and water was waiting. Shortly thereafter, half the group went on to accommodation for the night while I and a few others headed to the Police station to report missing passports and ID cards.
It was only at the Police Station that I was able to see the CNN reports which were really saddening and made us realize how lucky we were to be standing there, alive and watching the devastation on other Islands. It was then that I also realized what my parents at home must be going through watching such reports! I immediately borrowed a friend’s phone and called home. Mum was really anxious and I was told that they’ve been making attempts to reach me some how, directly or through friends. With my Mum being informed of my state, I was able to relax a bit.
We stopped at a 7-11 to get toiletries and headed straight for the accommodation by Police pick-up. We were being accommodated at the Ranong Health Center where the matrons made sure that we were comfortable. Patients’ clothing were given to us along with tooth brushes and towels for a wash-up. Tea and coffee was also readily available. It was way past midnight now and we had an early start the following day. I could still feel myself swaying although I was now on stable ground!
The following morning, with a splendid breakfast, a quick update on TV, shower and yellow T-shirts, the Health Center personnel took us to the Bus station. Luckily Ann had some cash on her to pay for the tickets back to Bangkok. Once the bus arrived, the conductor opened the lower luggage compartment and we could only laugh at our possessions at the time. We only remembered how much we started off with and now, we go back with our lives. This is better, isn’t it?
We all separated at the Bus station and with a long ride to AIT due to the traffic, I was left with the task of obtaining a spare set of keys. (This is another long story altogether!) I ran into the arms of Rush and Hans, had dinner at their place, also had another dinner at the Cottage with Pinky and finally tried to sleep! Couldn’t!
Anyway, that’s the long and short(!) of it. There’s a lot to be thankful for. There’s a lot to ponder about and most importantly, there’s a lot more people out there who we must pray for. Can we really count down to the New Year when there are people out there who are ‘counting up’ the number of deaths? Rather, let’s pray for the families who have lost their loved ones in the Asian Tsunami.
Yet, I wonder, in this new age of satellites and technological development, could there have been no prediction?
posted by Nadeera | 10:24 PM
I received this account from Lïz, an experienced diver who was underwater,
diving when the tsunami went by.
tsunami survivor diver
Hello everyone!
Thanks for all your concern! When I sent out my
seasons greetings email, it never crossed my mind that
I would be writing to all of you again so soon!
Communications are all more or less back to normal. I
received so many emails, and I'll try to reply
individually, but here is a short version of what
happened to me when the tsunami hit the Maldives.
It was one of the strangest experiences in my life -
DIVING while the tsunami passed overhead.
We were supposed to go to another site further away
that morning - 2hrs by boat - to check out some
Mantas, but due to lack of enthusiasm (Italians like
to sleep in and didn't want to get up at 7 to dive :)
thank God! I decided to go to a shark point about 20
minutes away instead. The weather was absolutely
beautiful as usual, but the sea was very rough and the
decision was made not to tie down on the thila, like
we usually do. Another lucky decision - because the
sea is usually calm, the crew ties the rope as tightly
as possible and doesn't leave any extra rope to allow
for water movement/tide changes, like we do in SA.
I had 4 experienced divers with me and we did a
negative entry to avoid the top conditions. The
visibility was not the best, about 20 metres. The
currents were strong and I decided to stay close to
the wall. We were about 25 minutes into the dive, when
everything changed. I was at about 20 m when I had to
equalise like crazy, but I was staying at the same
spot!! The depth had suddenly changed, the visibility
went down to about 2 metres and we had a massive
surge motion. I didn't know what had caused it, all I
could think of was that it was on or near full moon
and that it may be a freak high tide. When the
currents changed again and were throwing us around
like a like a washing machine, I really got worried.
Even the fish were behaving totally erratic, the
sharks came so close I could reach out and touch them.
That’s when I decided to cut the dive short, at about
35 minutes into the dive. We literally crawled,
holding onto the reef to get to the 5 m safety stop.
Like flags in the wind. I don't know what we
would’ve done if the boat wasn't there to pick us up.
Santana, the local dive master, in the meantime was
frantic with worry and came with our other dive boat
to see if we were ok, thinking that we had tied down
to the reef. When we hit the surface and heard what
had happened and we broke ALL records getting divers
back on board! We headed for Halaveli, not knowing
what to expect. Back in Halaveli everyone thought that
they had lost us and it was a welcome to remember! It
was a 'once in a lifetime' experience which I hope
never to repeat! My guardian angel may not be around
next time.
It's amazing how the different nationalities reacted
to this crisis, the Italians wanted to know
immediately how quickly they will be evacuated back to
Italy and were frantic, the Germans wanted to know the
exact reason for the tsunami and more details, whereas
all the English got themselves a beer and a high spot
to watch what was happening!
It's really an unimaginable disaster, which we only
started hearing about as the days passed. Here on
Halaveli, in the Ari Atoll, we were more protected by
other islands around us, so the water damage was
minimal. All the normal water activities have resumed
and we are diving again. We had to wait for the strong
currents to subside, so we will only really start to
see if there is a lot of damage to coral as we visit
the various dive sites.
Well, there you have it - I dived the tsunami and
survived!!
Wishing you all that is beautiful for 2005!!
Take care,
ciao for now
Liz
Smooth Sailing,
Dennis Gill, USCG Master, 100GT, NCW
American Sailing Association (ASA) Instructor
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WWW.SAILSHARE.COM/FLKeysBareboat.htm
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DECEMBER 26, 2004: PHUKET, THAILAND
First of all, I am alive and uninjured. Nothing could have prepared us for what had happened. But it did. And we move on.
I was on vacation in Phuket, Thailand from Dec.24, one of the locations that suffered severe casualties from the Southeast Asian earthquake and tsunami. 5 friends and I were on this vacation, and we all escaped disaster by a hair. I cannot help but believe that some unseen force had protected us and timed our survival. It was that close.
On December 26, I was in the lodge lobby in Patong at 6am, waiting for a van to pick me up for a 2night/3days snorkeling trip to the Similan Islands. The van arrived at 7 and we headed North towards Taplamu Pier in Phang Nga. It was around 9am when the speedboat left the pier and we headed towards the Similan Islands.
Later, my friend told me that she heard the windows rattling and felt an earthquake at 8am - most likely when I was on the road, but well away from the West coast of Phuket.
The speedboat jetted away for 1.5 hour and hesitated several times before approaching the Similan Islands. The driver kept on shouting on the radio in Thai but we eventually motored close enough to a bigger junk boat. As we peered overboard, I was a bit surprised. The water had patches of murky yellow-green and branches and trash was floating around, which was not expected from a beautiful snorkeling/diving site. The Similan Islands is one of the least touched and best preserved waters in Thailand (and ranked amongst the top 10 diving spots in the world). Something was wrong. Very wrong.
On board, an American couple looked a little distraught, and had told me that their tents and passports had been washed away in the morning. When I investigated further, the people who had stayed on the island the night before told us that a high tide had swept away the camp at 10am. One Englishman said that the water level had reached the windows and everything got flushed away. Most people were diving or snorkeling when this happened, and the snorkellers described that, "The water suddenly got cloudy. Poof - zero visibility." 3 scuba divers had been swept away, and raised their emergency signals. Everyone was saved and no one was seriously injured.
We, being the new comers, looked around the Andaman Sea to find it speckled with various debris: shoes, mattresses, water bottles, tents, bushes, trees - and even a turtle. However, the crew later told us that this was a taxidermies sea turtle that had been decorated on the lodge wall, and we were very relieved.
No one really knew what was going on, but we waited patiently on the boat. We eventually heard bits and pieces of news: "the piers on Phuket had been destroyed," "earthquake in Sumatra this morning," "cannot go back now." Since we were on a big junk boat, speedboats congregated to our boat and dropped people off. There was a boatful of people who started from Koh Phi Phi on a 3 hour speedboat trip. They had all fallen ill from the choppy waves and the small speedboat bouncing on water. At one point, we must have had about 60 people on board.
We did not know how serious the situation was, and believed that we would at least wait the night and still enjoy the rest of our snorkeling/diving trip the next day. We saw some tropical fishes swim by the boats and some flying fish on the water. To our disappointment, we were told that the boat was turning back to the mainland. We begged to at least swim in the water, but it only provided us with 5m visibility, as if the coral reef had been shaken like a snow-globe.
We did not understand HOW fortunate we were until a Danish girl received a text message from home. At the time, we heard "possibly 2000 dead on Phuket." More news came through as we learned "5000 confirmed dead in India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Thailand, Indonesia." We began to see things in a different light. We were extremely lucky to have been on a boat in the Similan Islands.
I had stubbornly sought my adventure, leaving my friends behind in Patong. Having heard that Phuket was hit hard, especially along the beaches, I became increasingly worried about their state of being. Where we had stayed, Patong Lodge, was a good 500m away from Patong Beach and a little up the hill. Nothing was certain though.
After 3 hours on the junk boat, we finally began to see some lights - but only from other boats and a lighthouse. There seemed to be no light on land and we could only barely make out the silhouettes of mountains from the beams of the full moon. We feared that the infrastructure had been hit severely.
When we disembarked, we saw boats piled on top of one another in 60-degree angles. One boat was completely turned over, making bubbling noises as the last bit of oxygen escaped from its hollow cavity. As we waited for the tuk-tuk to take us to our accommodation for the night, we saw a Thai man sitting on a ledge eating his dinner and sipping whiskey. He pointed his finger straight ahead to the wreckage and said, "Those... were my two boats."
From the openings of the tuk-tuk, I could not see much disaster except the flooded ditches. Electricity was up in Phang Nga, and people seemed to be going their own way - until we stopped at the evacuation camp. Before the tuk-tuk could turn into the driveway of the temple-turned-evacuation-camp, a frantic woman zigzagged across screaming, "Peto! Peto? Where are you!?" All of us groaned in sympathy.
AT THE EVACUATION CAMP
The 2 Danish couples and I, whom I had become close friends with, got off the vehicle despondently and set our bags down at the steps of the temple. I knew that we could not expect anything more than an uncomfortable lay on the stone floors. None of us could remotely consider eating or sleeping. We were wide awake and alert for any news. Most people were on edge, but I was surprisingly calm - an acceptance of the situation and dismissal of panic, knowing that it would not improve the situation. I wished I could have helped in some way, but I did not understand the situation and did not have much to offer but to oblige to the recommended actions. Vivika (the Danish girl) and I kept on talking about our incredible luck and smoked away to calm our nerves down.
Then, a man in shorts approached us for a cigarette. "Thank you. I needed that," he said. "I was at the beach this morning and my wife was sleeping in the hotel. I saw the waves coming towards us, grabbed my son, and ran. I had to hold up my son above the water in the lobby to keep him from drowning. My wife was pulled out of the rubbles. I was told that half the hotel was dead - 200 people. Dead. I'm just glad to have a cigarette."
Taking Vivika's advice, I walked around the camp a little. We were in a Buddhist temple, and some people were praying in the back. When I stepped upstairs, the entire floor was packed with people lying on the ground and talking - some severely injured and on a stretcher with IVs. Many had received First Aid at the station below. Most injuries were caused by the cuts created when they were washed away or by the stampede of people. Many were limping and would not have been able to escape quickly if an aftershock were to strike. What was most noticeable was their forlorn expressions - "I came here for a vacation. Why, oh why?"
The lack of information suspended everyone in fear and uncertainty. The volunteers (mostly tour company staff) tried to explain unsuccessfully in broken English. Inability to communicate was irritating many, including the usually smiling and amiable Thai people. Another noticeable fact was that the camps felt like a Western Europe Diaspora - there were remarkable amounts of Danish, Swiss, Swedish German, Fins in the camp, which I thought also contributed to the language gap.
When I returned to my new friends (at this point, I became an adopted Danish), the 4 were talking to a German lady who had been rescued but could not find her husband. In the morning, her husband had rushed to their bungalow and had told her to get out immediately. But before she could reach the entrance, the water had rushed in, pushing her against the ceiling and making her lose consciousness. She was still looking for her husband, but was not really in any condition to do so - physically and mentally. At this point, a lady with a newspaper in hand came to borrow a lighter. "I promise to return it," she said. "A baby is going in shock over there."
The hours seemed to drag on - we were at the temple from around 8:30pm. Vivika's husband let me use his mobile phone to call my parents. The network was congested for a long time, but I finally got through. My mother was still asleep, but I quickly blurted, "I'm okay. There was an earthquake in Indonesia and Thailand has been affected. But I'm okay." Until then, I had stayed unbelievably calm, but deep down inside, I was just as scared. Just as uncertain of what would happen and how bad it could have been. 5000+ dead in all of Southeast Asia and probably many more - it was a chilling realization of how incredibly lucky I was.
LOCALS AND TOURISTS
One of the Thai girls stayed close to us. She was a staff at the snorkelling/diving trip company; but I don't think her motive for staying was for customer satisfaction. For one, her house was near the pier and had been completely washed away. She told us that the only thing she had today was coffee in the morning, when the radio started buzzing and the boat drivers started asking what was going on in the mainland. She was very sorry that we tourists had to experience this. I actually worry more about the local Thai people who have to deal with the aftermath.
Starting from the fishing community to ecotourism and the lucrative tourism industry in general, Thailand had taken a giant blow. I don't mean to deemphasize the other countries that suffered from this disaster, but this is what went through my mind at the moment. Thai people are known for their smiles and warm hospitality, but their faces had been clouded by glazed looks of devastation and many many tears. The surviving tourists will at least be able to go back to a sturdy home and a stable economic structure.
But this is not a story of we vs. them. Locals and tourists alike, there was great suffering and grief. I sincerely hope that wary foreigners will not turn away but look into the opportunities of discovering Thailand again in the near future.
Koh Similan - this is the closest I got to it.
LOVE IS ALWAYS APPROPRIATE
There was great kindness amidst all chaos - everyone extended a helping hand and became alert to the needs of others. The Englishman whom I encountered earlier on the boat was helping two injured women throughout the night. He made sure they could be as comfortable as possible and offered to be their human crutch until they were transported to another camp or hospital. People huddled - couples snuggled closely while strangers formed small circles for security, determined not to leave anyone behind or alone.
When we were back at the temple last night, the Thai guide had secretly brought us a flashlight and said that her mother was looking for a better place for us to stay. We were extremely grateful and thanked her many times as we took a power nap on the temple floor. Normally, we must take our shoes off at temples out of respect, and only the holy monks could use the temple cushions and embroidered mats - but this was an exception, as the tired people sought comfort for their aching bodies.
The girl's mother arrived in a truck, and we packed ourselves onto the trucks, legs dangling out the back. We could see the main street, and the Mom pointed out that some people in the houses had death in the family.
She was a petite and energetic Thai woman, who had an air of strength. She explained to us that she had been looking for her sister all day in Phuket, but had no luck finding her.
"Today, she was driving her truck along the beach to pick up her son. You know, the wave just went away and took the sand and the pier with them. Loose. And then, BAM! the wave suddenly came crashing back. My sister was driving along the coast and her truck got washed away. We found her truck, damaged, but she wasn't inside. I looked around every hospital in Phuket, but I could not find her."
Despite her story, Mom had a sense of optimism and was not going to give up until she saw some concrete evidence. And even though her sister was missing, she was helping us getting settled in evacuation camps.
Truckloads of military men came, unloading food, clothes, and water. We shared scarce resources - global roaming phones, painkillers, and toilet paper. Some were prepared and others had just barely escaped death with nothing but themselves.
When we ate our lunch at the camp the next morning, a little Thai girl brought an armful of distilled water in cups, more than happy to help the peculiar foreigners. She was delighted and her younger brother (age 5?) tried to follow suit by trying to bring the rationed food from their family's picnic area (which we already had our own). This made us smile. The kindness never seemed to stop, as everyone looked out for one another.
Thai kids playing at the camp. I got to see Thai boxing after all.
YET ANOTHER EVACUATION CAMP
Once we arrived at our new destination - a school down the road - it felt more crowded than at the prior camp. Everywhere we looked, bodies were packed, filling all space that was dry and under some light. When our group looked for some space upstairs, the wooden floor creaked suspiciously, making us wonder how many people the structure can really hold until the floor gave out.
We shuffled the school chairs and desks to find some space to sleep. We lay 2 people to an aisle, trying to cover ourselves with towels, jackets, T-shirts, and sarongs to protect ourselves from the mosquitoes and the cold. The Germans chatted loudly and we stuck our heads beneath the desks to avoid the halogen beams above. Although it was annoying, no one dared turn off the light in fear of the unknown.
Surprisingly, I managed to fall asleep (although only for 4 hours total). At least enough to feel disturbed when woken up. Everyone was jumpy, and we had several abrupt nerve-jerking moments when someone screamed about the rats, and eventually, a hopeful cry that a bus had arrived.
It was December 27 - around 6am.
Skeptic of where the bus was going and also if it could possibly take all of us (100+ people), Vivika and I smoked and watched the scene below from the balcony.
Ultimately, we strolled down the hill, lining up in front of the buses - still uncertain whether it would take us, because we heard rumors that it was "For Germans only, arranged by the German embassy." Frankly, I did not care if I did not get on the bus, as long as it was taking the injured or others who were still looking for missing family members.
But disappointingly, the bus took neither - it was for a German tour group "Thomas Cook" only, so all who had got on the bus were kicked right back out. Hearing that it was a German bus, the German lady looking for her husband had excitedly stepped on. Instead, she was rejected adamantly and left in great stress and tears. Even in her fragile state, she was trying to stay optimistic - until this had happened. We looked on bitterly at the 3 empty Thomas Cook buses - all but with 1 or 2 passengers.
We heard that there was a possible aftershock coming at 10am, so we all cleared the buildings and sat outside. The network and our spirits picked up again with the daylight. I had a chance to call Patong Lodge, where my friends were staying. I had no idea if they were safe, evacuated, or if the lodge had survived at all.
I got through, and found out from the receptionist that everyone at the lodge was okay. In fact, my friends were in the lobby contemplating to leave for the airport! After hearing their voices, we confirmed each others' safety with great relief and promised to meet in Hong Kong, if not at Phuket Airport. I also heard that another party from our group was still stuck in Karon Beach, however, because the hotel told them that it was unsafe to leave.
Aftershock or not, my group at the evacuation camp were determined to leave for Phuket (we were still in Phang Nga at this point) after the aftershock was predicted to come. But we did not have to wait long before buses and vans were arranged to head to the Phuket side.
Some were still hesitant to board the vans and decided to stay to see if a missing family member would show up. A Danish group we met had one girl in the hospital and her mother was still missing. Fortunately, the boy in the group was thought to have drowned, but had made it back. They were hopeful.
At the airport, I parted ways with my Danish friends and we wished each other luck in getting home safely. It was quite chaotic in the airport but I miraculously bumped into my friends who had gotten a tuk-tuk to drive up from Patong. We were to return to Hong Kong as soon as possible - after staying overnight at the airport.
Phuket Airport
My friends called me "the worm"
AT PATONG BEACH
My friends' experience is worth mentioning - as they had been closer to the disaster location than me. They showed me the photos on their digital cameras of Patong Beach, where we had been the day before. We had walked along this beach on Dec 25, where the shops, restaurants, and parasols had decorated the shoreline. Strangely enough, the Buddhist shrine at the corner of the street (only 50m from the shore) was left unscathed, making us wonder what holy power or durable construction material it was made of. But everything surrounding it was completely obliterated.
Patong Beach on the west coast of Phuket - we had been here the day before. Now everything is gone.
Most things were destroyed, but the Buddhist shrine (photo right) remained untouched by the tsunami.
150m down the road from our lodge (other side of Patong Beach).
My friends actually did not feel the shock and sensed that something was wrong only when people started running wildly in the hallway shouting, "The waves are coming!" Then, everyone had to evacuate to the mountains where they stayed for 6 hours. According to my friends, they were able see the waves crashing high, as seen on the CNN footages.
My friends had seen the impact of the tsunamis as the tuk-tuk drove up to the airport. The driver was hesitant to bargain, but suggested a rather high price, knowing that their business was very high in demand now and would dry up severely in the following week. My friends obliged and paid him 200% higher than the normal rate.
SOMEBODY IS WATCHING OVER US
Some stumble upon luck accidentally. In the airport pub, I met a French man who had signed up on a scuba diving trip to Koh Phi Phi on the day the disaster struck. However, he had overslept and had stayed in the hotel, avoiding one of the worst struck areas in Thailand. He had indeed avoided a great danger, as we found out from a British couple in the ticket cue that everything in Koh Phi Phi was in ruins. The couple was one of the fortunate ones who escaped the destruction.
On Koh Phi Phi, we heard that all the resorts had been uprooted, leaving only the base structure intact. The diesel from the boats had leaked into the water, and some people had drunk an unhealthy dose of blackened seawater. If you have ever seen the photos of Koh Phi Phi (the location used for the DiCaprio movie "The Beach"), it is one of paradise with such beautiful wildlife under the sea. Now, it is all gone and poisoned - a site of terror.
My friends and I would have been on Koh Phi Phi that day, if it had not been fully booked. Another reason to make me believe that we had escaped death by a slim chance. Alice and Dav, who were on Karon Beach had originally planned to go to the beach early that morning - but changed their minds at the last minute and went to the hotel pool. They saw the waves crashing from the poolside. Patong Lodge, the place that my friends were staying at, was unharmed and it was a budget lodge that we had booked last minute. It was slightly on a hill and did not have a sea view. I was in one of the safest places in the area that day - I remember the Thai Mom saying, "Anyone on Similan Islands today was a very very lucky person."
I sat in Phuket Airport writing this entire narrative on the advert pages of The Economist - not having bathed over 48 hours, sleep deprived, and aching from sleeping on the hard floors. But it had given me much to think about. Something that Vivika said sticks to my mind about this particular incident: 'Timing is Everything.'
Natural disaster is violent, ruthless, and unpredictable. All of us who were here amidst the disaster were touched in some way. Our priorities in life had shifted and connections had formed to test our moral values among already close ones and strangers.
* * *
AFTERMATH - IN HONG KONG
When I got back to Hong Kong, I thought that I would be much better off. I received many worried phone calls, SMS, and e-mails from my friends and family. I had not given myself a proper chance to reflect, though, and the backlash came last night.
My body had become weak and I experienced a bit of a stomach flu and delirium as the adrenaline had worn off and my immune system took a nosedive. This was accompanied by a nightmare of being in the evacuation camps in Thailand again, doing some relief work. Somehow subconsciously, I felt guilt for not being able to do more to help. I will most likely adjust back into the normal life slowly, but a part of me is affected, and a part of me is still in Thailand.
My prayers go out to all those affected - and I sincerely wish that they will have the hope and faith to live on after this tragedy.
posted by sakit @ 2:14 AM
Tsunami tragedy: Your e-mails
Monday, January 24, 2005
I was staying at Ao Nang in Thailand and on Sunday went on a day trip to some islands. My girlfriend was sunbathing and I was snorkeling around the first island when the water turned brown. It was a struggle to reach the beach but I eventually landed in some mangrove bushes. We were very lucky. I tried to administer first aid to several victims but unfortunately they died in front of me.
Daniel Novak, Prague, Czech Republic
My wife and I were scuba diving, about 20 meters down, off the shore of Sri Lanka when the first wave hit. All of a sudden the current became unbelievable. Everyone held on to coral or whatever they could to prevent themselves from being swept away. As we surfaced, the boat, which had been tied to a buoy was still intact. We began to return to the dive center when we looked and realized the beach had simply disappeared. We could see the hotels in a shambles (some of them collapsing) and tons of debris in the water. We headed to the dive center and then we saw another wave heading for us. We ran for our lives. We were some of the lucky ones. Warren and Julie Lavender, Colombo, Sri Lanka
I am a dive instructor who was working on Phi Phi island when the tsunami struck. I was on a speed boat trip when the waves hit. After the first dive, which was unusually strong current, we heard a report that something had gone terribly wrong at Patong Beach, Phuket. When we came back we saw lots of shoes in the water and lots of rubbish. When we came into Tonsai Bay (southern beach), all the diving boats were still. Everyone was just waiting for a second wave to hit. We moved to a larger boat, put on out BCDs and just waited for the second wave but it never came. On Tonsai Beach, we saw all the demolition; it was horrible. At 6 o clock the following morning we went down from where we had taken shelter up high and saw the whole picture. It was a disaster. All houses were gone and there were bodies everywhere along the streets. I am now back in Bangkok. Rickard Eriksson, Sweden
Caught in a tsunami: A feeling like 'white-water rafting'
Manhattan Beach couple came close to death on vacation off Thailand when huge waves struck Dec. 26. "I don't know if it will ever go away," real estate broker Brent Sprenkle says.
By Deepa Bharath
Daily Breeze
On the second day of his vacation to an exotic island off the coast of Thailand, Brent Sprenkle thought about impending death for the first time.
The 31-year-old commercial real estate broker from Manhattan Beach has always been a " 'Lonely Planet' kind of traveler," his mother, Lynn McNaughton, said.
But little did he expect that he would be caught in the swirling currents of a fierce tsunami, which pummelled the coast the day after Christmas, even as he and his wife of eight months, Ruta Andrasiunaite, were snorkeling.
The scenes flash before his mind's eye more often than he likes and the smell of death and devastation haunts him still, two months after the experience.
"I don't know if it will ever go away," Sprenkle said. "I still haven't forgotten about it. I don't think I can."
Their vacation was supposed to be a three-week escape to paradise. They had a busy itinerary, which included hiking remote tropical jungles, relaxing on balmy, desolate beaches and, of course, snorkeling.
The morning of Dec. 26, the couple hired a boat to go snorkeling and explore Ko Phi Phi Le island where the movie "The Beach" starring Leonardo DiCaprio was filmed. People were talking about tremors that morning, but Sprenkle and his wife were asleep and didn't feel them. They didn't make too much of it.
They set off on their wooden, long-tail boat. After sailing for about half an hour, they reached an island and stopped at a cove famous for its coral reef. As they jumped into the water with their snorkels and fins, Sprenkle noticed that his fins were resting on pure white sand. A current pulled to the left making snorkeling difficult.
Then suddenly it happened. The crystal clear water turned an opaque white. Sprenkle felt like he was in a giant snow globe. Clearly, something was wrong, he thought to himself.
They heard several boats turn their engines on and people yell. The boat captain asked them to swim back to the boat, but the strong current was pulling them in the opposite direction.
"The feeling of that current is difficult to describe," Sprenkle said. "Waters in the oceans rarely move fast. However, this was more like being in a river, not the Mississippi, but more like a river you would go white-water rafting in. This water was moving so fast that we were having a hard time swimming and keeping afloat."
The whole time, Sprenkle and his wife were 20 feet from each other. He remembers they were talking, but doesn't recall about what.
"Several times, I went under the water accidentally," he said. "For the first time in my life, death actually passed through my mind."
He wondered what would happen to his wife. Would she move back to Europe with her parents? Was she going to survive this whirling dervish of a current?
They survived because they did a smart thing. They swam toward the cliffs, mostly because there was no beach to swim to. A half of a jungle was partially submerged. They wedged their bodies on a cliff and held on. As the water level started coming down, they moved with it. Eventually they were picked up by a boat and even managed to grab Sprenkle's floating bag with passports, credit cards, tickets and money.
"It was all water-logged and wet, but it was all in there," he said. "We were very lucky."
But not until he saw the devastation did Sprenkle realize the magnitude of the tragedy. People's homes and lives were reduced to trash. There was blood everywhere. People walked around like zombies, blood oozing out of their open wounds. Bloody corpses were packed in rice bags.
"I felt like I was witnessing a scene from World War II," Sprenkle said. For the next several hours, they lived on cookies being handed out and bags of potato chips floating in the water. He and his wife packed their belongings from their hotel room, which had survived the tsunami, and managed to get away in a hired car to the middle of the jungle.
They continued with their vacation. But as far as Sprenkle was concerned, it was more than ruined.
"It took a while for me to calm down," he said. "I couldn't fall asleep. I was angry and irritable. It didn't cause me physical pain, but the trauma was there."
There was one thing he couldn't exorcise from his senses. That smell.
"Combine mothballs, rotting wood and sewage together for a smell that will sit in the back of your mind until you die," he said.
Sprenkle says he hasn't changed the way he lives, and yet, his life has been changed forever.
"I appreciate what I have much more than I did before," he said.
He lives blocks from the ocean and he'll jump into it again, but it won't be the same.
It was a lesson in how life is like a soap bubble that can pop and vanish in no time.
"People lost everything," Sprenkle said. "Everything." As soon as they got home, he donated money to tsunami victims.
Andrasiunaite takes a pragmatic view of her encounter with what could be the worst natural disaster in her lifetime.
"I just feel like I'm more experienced now," she said. "It's sad. But what can you do? You just move on."
The belief that he won't see another disaster of this magnitude helps him relax, Sprenkle said.
"I'm going to Hawaii next week," he said. "Do I plan on watching the ocean for waves? Absolutely not."
PRESS RELEASE
David F. Colvard, M.D.
Tel (919) 781-3141
dcolvard@mindspring.com
Dr. Thomas K. Skalko, Ph.D.
Dr. Carmen Russoniello, Ph.D., LPC
East Carolina University
(252) 328-0018
skalkot@mail.ecu.edu
April 4, 2005
Survey of Skin and Scuba Divers in the December 2004 Indonesian Tsunami
http://www.zoomerang.com/survey.zgi?p=WEB2247GPQ5XL9
This is a world-wide Internet survey of skin and scuba divers who were in or on the water in the Indonesian tsunami on 26 December 2004. There has been little or no published information regarding the effects of natural disasters on divers. Dr. David Colvard, M.D. Private Psychiatry and Drs. Thomas Skalko and Carmen Russoniello of East Carolina University in Greenville NC, USA are studying what that experience was like for divers and how it has affected their lives since then.
Some of the survey questions may be upsetting, even months after the tsunami. It will take about 10 - 15 minutes to complete. The survey will automatically skip past questions that do not apply based upon answers to earlier questions. Results will be compiled and completed as a group only. No individual identifying information will be released to anyone. The risks of participating in this survey are considered minimal.
If you were in or on the water in the tsunami or know of any skin or scuba divers who were in or on the water in the tsunami, then please go to or ask them to go directly to the survey URL to complete the survey:
http://www.zoomerang.com/survey.zgi?p=WEB2247GPQ5XL9
David F Colvard, MD
Diplomate of the American Board of Psychiatry & Neurology
ACRP Certified Clinical Research Investigator
Divemaster
www.DivePsych.com
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